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Anna Burleson

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Anna Burleson is the higher education reporter for The Grand Forks Herald. She is a 2013 graduate of the University of South Dakota's Mass Communication program and is originally from Watertown, S.D. Contact her with story ideas or tips by phone, email or Twitter, all of which are listed below. Examples of her work can be accessed here.

In January, Grand Forks County commissioners discovered county water board members are getting higher pay and more benefits because of its status as a separate entity. And it’s not about to change. At a meeting Tuesday, Peter Welte, Grand Forks County state’s attorney, explained that the water board answers to the North Dakota State Water Commission and the Department of Agriculture. The issue was raised when the weed board requested a raise in pay from $65 per meeting to $90, which

The County Commission is waiting to tie up some loose ends with the proposed Grand Sky unmanned aerial systems park before giving the developer, FDSL, the go-ahead to proceed. At a meeting Tuesday, the board supported a plan that would alleviate the county of all responsibility in making sure the Grand Forks Air Force Base receives the proper payments. “There is a guarantee that the county will be held harmless,” consultant George Schlossberg said. This was a p

For some 40 years, Faye Gibbens worked alongside her husband to expand the North Dakota Association for the Disabled from a small support group in Grand Forks to an organization with statewide reach. But to hear Ron Gibbens talk, it was mostly his wife’s doing. “We wouldn’t be where we are without Faye’s positive influence,” he said. “She was a spunky lady.” On Saturday, she died at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks of complications from a failing kidney and weakened heart.

UND is going to begin raising $6 million after being granted permission by the State Board of Higher Education to create more collaborative learning spaces on campus. Spokesman Peter Johnson said there are no concrete plans for fundraising or even for the types of spaces they’re going to create, but that they wanted the board’s permission to start raising money for something they could achieve, rather than for something the board could then later turn down. “It allows us to start envisioning,” he said. The space, or multiple spaces, will be similar to the school’s current lo

With little notice, the UND Law School has discarded about 37,000 books over the past eight weeks. Thormodsgard Law Library Director Rhonda Schwartz sent a letter to people at the university Wednesday explaining that the books in the garbage containers outside the building are nothing more than discontinued or outdated law journals that can be accessed online. “The removal of selected materials from the law library collection is part of, and is indeed in prepar

On any day of the week, fifth-year senior Carly Rothfusz can been found studying on a large, blue couch next to the fireplace in the Education Building at the UND. It’s a far cry from traditional classrooms with white boards and hard metal desks bolted to the floor, and Rothfusz prefers it that way. “It’s more homey feeling with the fireplace and couches,” she said. “It’s a smaller space and the library is so open and kind of ‘blah’ feeling.” Rothfusz isn’t alone.

Grand Forks resident Nels Christianson announced Tuesday that he plans to run for the Ward 4 City Council seat, held by longtime Council President Hal Gershman, who is not running. Christianson held a press conference announcing his intentions and is working on gathering petition signatures.

Electronics distributor Digi-Key has been fined $25,000 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and has submitted eight years of missing emission inventory reports after failing to obtain the proper permits for four generators installed between 1990 and 2009. According to a press release, the generators are at the company’s Thief River Falls facility and are used during power outages and by a utility company during times of peak energy demand. The permits and reporting requirements the company failed to comply with are in place to limit air pollution. The severity of the f